Who's Who

Wendy Lement Wendy Lement co-founded Theatre Espresso in 1992. She is also a Professor of Theatre and Chair of the Theatre Department at Regis College in Weston, MA, where she has directed thirty productions, including: Dancing at Lughnasa, Importance of Being Earnest, The Good Woman of Setzuan, Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet), and Steel Magnolias, which won a Moss Hart Award. Her production of The House of Bernarda Alba won the 2000 New England Region's American College Theatre Festival, sponsored by the Kennedy Center. She is co-author of And Justice for Some: Exploring American Justice through Drama and Theatre, published by Heinemann Press (2005). Wendy's children's book, Keri Tarr: Cat Detective, was published by Breakaway Books (2004). Her plays include: Woman with the Red Kerchief, Salem's Daughters, King George III vs. Ruth Blay, Voicings: The Story of the Rosenberg Case, Dolphins: The Myth of Persephone, The Legend of the Christmas Rose, and Keri Tarr: Cat Detective (based on her children's book), which won the American Alliance for Theatre and Education's 2002 Unpublished Playreading Project. Wendy holds a Ph.D. in Educational Theatre from New York University.

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Derek Stone Nelson Derek has been a member of Theatre Espresso for 15 years and Managing Director for the last seven. In addition to acting in all the company's current plays, he has also helped research and write four of Theatre Espresso's more recent dramas: Clear and Present Danger: The Palmer Raids, Uprising on King Street: The Boston Massacre, Nine Who Dared: Crisis in Little Rock, and American Tapestry: Immigrant Children of the Bread & Roses Strike. He has appeared on stage in many Boston area theatres, including North Shore Music Theatre, New Rep, Stoneham Theatre, The Publick Theatre, Merrimack Rep, Sugan Theatre (where he directed Beckett's Happy Days), Huntington Theatre Co. and Wellesley Summer Theatre, with whom he received a 2008 IRNE Award for Best Actor for his role in Much Ado About Nothing. In January 2012 he'll be appearing in WST's production of Seasons Greetings. For 14 years Derek has taught drama and music at Arts All Day, a summer arts program for kids in Cambridge.  He is a graduate of Trinity Rep Conservatory and holds a BA in English from Amherst College.

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Kortney Adams Kortney Adams is a native of St. Louis, MO, but is now happy to consider herself a Bostonian. Before becoming an actor, Kortney was a practicing environmental engineer, and holds BS and MS degrees from Washington University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Since that time, she's performed with many Boston-area theatre companies, including the Publick Theatre, Boston Playwrights' Theatre, Company One, Rough Tumble, and Wellesley Summer Theatre, with whom she received an IRNE Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in After Mrs. Rochester. Her educational theatre credits include New England and national tours with the Wheelock Family Theatre,Historical Perspectives for Children, Deana's Fund, and City Stage.

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Shelley Bolman is an actor/educator who received his Master’s in Theatre Education from Emerson College. Recent performances include...Gloucester Stage Company: Woman in Black (The Actor), Billy Bishop Goes to War (Billy Bishop), Wind in the Willows (Mole); Commonwealth Shakespeare Company: A Midsummer Night's Dream (Snug); Charles Playhouse: Shear Madness (Sgt. Mike Thomas); Wheelock Family Theatre: Saint Joan (Charles, the Dauphin), Inherit the Wind (Bertram Cates), Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse (Chester), Holes (Mr. Pendanski), Snow White (The Prince), Pippi Longstocking (Tommy Settergren), Witch of Blackbird Pond (Nat Eaton); Stoneham Theatre: And Then There Were None (Dr. Edward Armstrong), A Christmas Story (Ralph), A Christmas Carol (Young Ebenezer); Boston Theatre Works: 2007 Elliot Norton Award Winning play A Midsummer Night's Dream (Quince, Lysander, Cobweb), Antony and Cleopatra (Maecenas, Messenger); Wellesley Summer Theatre: Playboy of the Western World (Jimmy Farrell), An Ideal Husband (Sir Robert Chiltern); Village Theatre Project: Better Off Dead (David Gellman), Almost Maine (Man 1), Spinning Into Butter (Mr. Meyers); The Theatre Cooperative: Manifest (Dada); New Repertory Theatre: Tartuffe (Louis XIV, Police Officer). In 2010 look for Shelley in Opus (Alan) at New Repertory Theatre and A Midsummer Night's Dream (Lysander) with Actors’ Shakespeare Project.

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Danny Bolton Dan Bolton is thrilled to be returning for his 4th year as a member of Theatre Espresso. He has had the good fortune to work at a number of theatres in the Boston area, including Wellesley Summer Theatre, Wheelock Family Theatre, Lyric Stage Company of Boston, Jewish Theatre of New England, Merrimack Repertory Theatre, Speakeasy Stage Company, Reagle Players and Foothills Theatre Company. The veteran of three national tours, Dan is a graduate of Boston College, a theatre educator for a variety of different programs throughout the Boston area and continues to keep busy in television, video and commercial work for a number of national corporate and retail clients.

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Derek Fraser Derek is proud to be a part of Theatre Espresso for a third season.  As a local actor, director, and teaching artist, Derek has performed with 11:11 Theatre Company, Another Country Productions, Bad Habit Productions, Holland Productions, Mill 6 Collaborative and Commonwealth Shakespeare.  Roles include: Charlie Fox in Speed-the-Plow (BHP); Antigonous & Autolycus in The Winter's Tale (BHP); Dougie in The Quiet Infinite (11:11); and Leo Tolstoy in The Lady with the Red Kerchief.  He most recently directed Struck with 11:11 Theatre Company as part of their Evening of Almost and assistant directed Arcadia with BHP.  Derek graduated from UMass Amherst with a BA in Theatre and English.

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Jackie Davis is a member of Theatre Espresso and an Affiliate Artist of the Providence Black Repertory Theatre Company.  She recently became co-artistic Director of New Urban Theatre Laboratory....lovingly referred to as the NUTLab.  Watch for great NUT events.  Directorial credits include: Black Arts Drama Showcase (in Boston and New Jersey) produced by Roxbury Crossroads Theatre featuring works by Ed Bullins, Sonia Sanchez, Marvin X and Amiri Baraka, "BIRTH" for Bold On Labor Day, “An American Kaleidoscope” for The Streetfeet Women, and "The Eight Reindeer Monologues." She’s also recently directed in Company One’s SLAM Boston and has participated as both an actor and director for Boston Playwrights Theatre's annual Boston Theatre Marathon.  She's directed staged readings of “Hurry Tomorrow” by Frank Shefton, "The Trial of One Short-Sighted Black Woman vs. Mammy Louise and Safreeta Mae" for Roxbury Crossroads Theatre at the Calderwood Pavilion,  “Judge Thom Strikes Back” by renowned playwright Ed Bullins and Cell Phone Blues by Robert Johnson as part of the University of Massachusetts’ Black History Month Playreading series.  Television and Web appearances include Comcast, Visa, Krispy Kreme; films include Shuttle, Pink Panther, and The Company Men. Ms. Davis is the Co-Artistic Director of New Urban Theater Laboratory and has taken on the duties of Associate Director of Roxbury Crossroads Theater in Boston. She currently resides in Boston, Massachusetts, and has traveled throughout the east coast for theater, modeling and dance.
 

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Matthew Kossack  Matthew has been acting, directing and choreographing throughout the Boston area since graduating from Boston College in 2004; BA in English, concentration in Theatre Arts.  Area acting credits include:  The Music Man, La Cage aux Folles, Hello Dolly and Joseph...Dreamcoat (Reagle Music Theatre), Urinetown (Lyric Stage and Massasoit Theatre Co.), Gypsy (Footlight Club), She Loves Me (Arlington Friends), Swing! (Acting Up) and Still Life with Iris (Regis Theatre Company).  He has directed and choreographed for The Longwood Players, Open Door Theater, Newton Country Players, Apollinaire Theatre Co., Curtain Call and The Performing Arts Connection and is the Artistic Director of Artbarn Community Theater, a youth theatre in Brookline.

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Susan Lombardi-Verticelli Susan joined Theatre Espresso in 2007. When not performing with Theatre Espresso, Susan is a working actor who has been seen in many local productions and on television. Susan also enjoys being behind the scenes as a producer for The Travel Channel, The History Channel, TLC and other networks. Susan combines her experience and education (BS in Acting and Communication Studies from Emerson College and MA in Communication Studies from Suffolk University) by helping individuals and organizations with their communication and presentation needs. Having worked in the Boston Public Schools for five years, the Theatre Espresso mission is very close to Susan's heart.

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Cliff Odle Cliff is a long time Theatre Espresso member who has appeared in all of the current Theatre Espresso shows at one point or another. Currently he is understudying in Uprising on King Street, The Trial of Anthony Burns, and Nine Who Dared. He has also appeared on stage in several productions in New York, Boston and Southern California. Some of his roles have included Pontius Pilate in The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, Mister in King Hedley II, Troy Maxon in Fences, and Lucien P. Smith in The Boys Next Door. He has worked with a variety of stage companies such as The Huntington Theatre, Company One, Peabody Playhouse and The Second Stage Theatre Company, and The Gamm Theatre in Pawtucket, RI. He has also performed classical roles such as Tartuffe and Richard III. Cliff recently directed a production of his one-act play, Running the Bulls, and Mr. Glass by Jonathan Dent for New Urban Theatre Lab. He is currently teaching in the Performing Arts Department at UMass Boston.

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Adam Sanders Adam Sanders Adam is new to Theatre Espresso and Boston theater in general.  He received his BA in English from UMass Amherst.  In Amherst he founded the Amherst Renaissance Company as producer/director and actor.  He directed with Naked Theater, Chester Miniature Theater and the UMass Theater Department.  He also directed for and helped found the UMass Shakespeare Festival.  In Boston Adam is working towards his Masters in Theater and Community at Emerson College.  Boston credits include “Leontes/Shepherd” in The Winter’s Tale and “Malvolio” in Twelfth Night for Bad Habit Productions.  He directed Speed the Plow for the same company.

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Jen Alison Lewis is proud to join Theatre Espresso.  An actress, acting teacher, director, administrator, and Mom, she holds a BFA from NYU (Tisch) and is a member of Actors’ Equity Association, Screen Actors Guild, and StageSource. She serves as Director of Publicity and Career Labs for GAN-e-meed Theatre Project, whose mission is to advance the role of women in theatre. She teaches and coaches actors, both children and adults. Favorite performances include Kate in Taming of the Shrew; Living Out (Lyric Stage); many many new play readings (Boston Playwrights’ Theatre); voice-overs; commercials; and independent films.  Directing credits include Not a Box New Play Festival; Reindeer Monologues and In Bloom (SLAMBoston). She was formerly Office Associate at StageSource and has performed in educational programs at the Museum of Science and for FoodPlay Productions. www.jenalisonlewis.com.

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Lewis Wheeler Lewis joined Theatre Espresso in 2008. He has worked at various theatres in the Boston area – recent productions include Ionesco’s The Bald Soprano at Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater (WHAT), where he has performed for the past 3 seasons, No Exit at Payomet in Truro, Brecht’s The Life of Galileo at Underground Railway/Central Square Theater, Playboy of the Western World at Wellesley Summer Theatre. Other credits include Pinter’s No Man’s Land (IRNE nominee, Best Supporting Actor) (American Repertory Theatre); Doubt (Gloucester Stage); The Importance of Being Earnest, A Number, The Underpants, The Glass Menagerie (Lyric Stage); Arcadia (IRNE nominee, Best Actor), Comedy of Errors, Troilus and Cressida (Publick Theatre); Silence, Cyrano (New Rep); Macbeth, Taming of the Shrew (Commonwealth Shakespeare Co.); Butley (Huntington Theatre); Julius Caesar, title roles in Hamlet and Macbeth (Shakespeare Now); The Mousetrap (Stoneham); The Weir (TCAN); A Perfect Ganesh (Vineyard Playhouse). Film and television credits include The Company Men (with Chris Cooper and Tommy Lee Jones), Don McKay, Underdog, Pink Panther 2, Laddie in Louisa May Alcott (PBS), Brotherhood (Showtime). Lewis performs with several interactive training programs at Boston Children’s Hospital and IPEP (Institute for Professionalism and Ethical Practice), helping medical professionals with communication skills in particularly difficult medical situations. Lewis also produced the documentary LEADING TO WAR (www.LeadingToWar.com), about the build-up to the Iraq War. Lewis studied theatre and film studies at Cornell University and received his MFA from the American Film Institute (AFI). 

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Alan R. White Alan has played the Haberdasher in The Taming of The Shrew with The Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, Steven in Or Less, Poel in The Wizard of Elderwood, Aaron in The Three Graces, The Dean in The Old One-Two at The Theater at Hollywood and Vine, and Jason in Sin with South City Theater Ensemble. Alan has worked with many New England theater companies including City Stage Company, The Children's Museum of Boston, The New England Shakespeare Festival, Pastimes, and The Freedom Trail Foundation. Alan's work in TV video and voice over includes portraying everything from Science Teachers to Ninja.

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Jenna Lea Scott is an actress/teaching artist/director/choreographer who got her training in musical theatre at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy, NYC. In 2004, she was one of four actors to receive the Walnut Street Theatre’s Dorothy Hass Acting Apprenticeship. This allowed her to tour 4 shows in repertory all over Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey.  Jenna has performed for such companies as Wheelock Family Theatre, The Depot Theatre (NY), Stoneham Theatre, Derryfield Repertory Theatre (NH), Walnut Street Theatre (Philadelphia, PA), Foothills Theatre Company, Forestburg Playhouse (NY), Deana’s Fund, Periwinkle National Theatre  (NY), and The Reader’s Theatre Workshop (NY). Jenna enjoys teaching her love of the performing arts to students at the Turtle Lane Playhouse Summer Theatre Workshop, The New School of Music, and for PALS.  Born in South Korea, Jenna was adopted and raised in Acton, MA. When not performing and teaching, Jenna is a babysitter/nanny and loves to spend her free time with her two cockatiels Arimi and Renee. 

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Maurice Emmanuel Parent is overjoyed to be joining Theatre Espresso! Boston area credits: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Puck), Coriolanus (Junius Brutus), King John (Lewis the Dauphin) with Actors’ Shakespeare Project; RENT (Tom Collins), Passing Strange (Mr. Franklin et al), Ragtime (Coalhouse Walker Jr. - IRNE Nom) and Cabaret with New Repertory Theatre; Man of La Mancha (Dr. Carrasco / The Duke) with Lyric Stage Co. Maurice is the proud recipient of a 2008 Elliot Norton Award for Some Men (Angel Eyes et al, SpeakEasy Stage Co.), Angels in America Parts 1 and 2 (Belize / Mr. Lies, Boston Theatre Works) and The Wild Party (Black, New Rep). Other Credits: The Rink starring Leslie Uggams and Janet Metz (Buddy et al) at the Cape Playhouse; The Good War (dir. David H. Bell and Craig Carnelia) at the York Theatre; Hair at Barrington Stage; Ragtime at both the Fulton Opera House and Music Theatre of Wichita; Futurology at Classic Theatre of Harlem; and Ain’t Misbehavin’ for Gardner and Wife Productions, K.L. Malaysia. This year, Maurice was honored to be invited to join the resident acting company of the Actors’ Shakespeare Project. As a dancer, Maurice studied at the Dance Theatre of Harlem and has worked with choreographers Baayork Lee, Kari Nicolaisen, Marc Robin and Mark Martino. Maurice holds an M.A. from NYU Steinhardt School’s Department of Music and Performing Arts Professions and also studied at the Atlantic Theatre Company.